ocuviper wrote:Can anyone who is going to Cornell at sticker share their sentiments about paying so much money for their education?

I'm attending at sticker. I was kind of pissed about it, since I'm paying for the whole things with loans, but the fin aid office wouldn't budge, and it was by far the best school I got into for my career goals.

I feel better about it now. I have a V5 SA, and am doing the maximum time for the summer (12 weeks = $37,200 pre-tax) to minimize my 3L loans. I also live pretty cheaply here in Ithaca, so if I wanted to save a few thousand on the loans I could; I just choose to do some fun things with that money instead. I also did my 1L judicial internship without getting credit to minimize loans, and am working as a research assistant partly for the same reason.

If I hadn't done well here, I would have desperately regretted my decision. I kind of gambled, however, knowing that I would probably outperform my peers at the job search, if not at exams. I'd say the gamble paid off. Sure, I'll have less money than some of my friends once we all start working, but I've lived in NYC on far less money before. Also, given the caliber of my firm, I don't think I'll have issues lateraling if that ends up being necessary.

Lincoln, if you don't mind me asking, would you consider yourself to be in the top 5%, 10%, 20%, etc? I also will be paying close to sticker (being offered 15k/yr) and after crunching the numbers am nervous about owing so much money. Aside from your numbers, do you have any other advice in terms of landing an SA job during your 1L summer?

MAapplicant wrote:Lincoln, if you don't mind me asking, would you consider yourself to be in the top 5%, 10%, 20%, etc? I also will be paying close to sticker (being offered 15k/yr) and after crunching the numbers am nervous about owing so much money. Aside from your numbers, do you have any other advice in terms of landing an SA job during your 1L summer?

15k/ yr is closer to sticker than not, but that's really not "close" to sticker.

MAapplicant wrote:Lincoln, if you don't mind me asking, would you consider yourself to be in the top 5%, 10%, 20%, etc? I also will be paying close to sticker (being offered 15k/yr) and after crunching the numbers am nervous about owing so much money. Aside from your numbers, do you have any other advice in terms of landing an SA job during your 1L summer?

I'm below all of those brackets. I'm a 2L, and know next to nothing abt 1L SAs. Seems like mostly for URMs, judging by the 1Ls doing SAs at my firm.

FlanAl wrote:you can go under the total cost of attendance figure by a pretty serious amount.....if you are smart about it, it can end up being a lot cheaper than other t14s.

can you elaborate?

basically what johan said. everything in ithaca is more expensive than you realize and it kind of catches up with you. once you re-adjust you can save a ton of cash. if you want some details on things that have helped me feel free to pm.

Just posting because Cornell is definitely a school I'm considering for fall application. My dad went there for undergrad, and additionally two of my coworkers at my current law firm (paralegals) went there and rave about it. It fits in nicely with my NYC goals post-graduation.

Did anyone choose Cornell at a scholarship over a higher-ranked NYC-friendly school (for instance, U Penn, NYU, or Columbia)? Do you think it was the right decision to make?

echamberlin8 wrote:Just posting because Cornell is definitely a school I'm considering for fall application. My dad went there for undergrad, and additionally two of my coworkers at my current law firm (paralegals) went there and rave about it. It fits in nicely with my NYC goals post-graduation.

Did anyone choose Cornell at a scholarship over a higher-ranked NYC-friendly school (for instance, U Penn, NYU, or Columbia)? Do you think it was the right decision to make?

echamberlin8 wrote:Just posting because Cornell is definitely a school I'm considering for fall application. My dad went there for undergrad, and additionally two of my coworkers at my current law firm (paralegals) went there and rave about it. It fits in nicely with my NYC goals post-graduation.

Did anyone choose Cornell at a scholarship over a higher-ranked NYC-friendly school (for instance, U Penn, NYU, or Columbia)? Do you think it was the right decision to make?

Depends how much $.

Yeah, this is all hypothetical, but because I have ~$75K from inheritance, I'm kinda leaning towards T6 at sticker over a Cornell scholarship (unless it's a full-ride). But then again, this seems like 0L, naive logic. But I know a lot of people on here that turned down scholarships at lower T14s for T6. Oh well, I'd love to go to Cornell anyways.

To me it would be nice to save as much of the 75K as possible. If $ from Cornell is big and you want NYC Biglaw, you may want to bite at a large Cornell offer. I chose Cornell over higher ranked schools (not t6) because of scholarships. I have been very happy with my choice and happy to have less to pay off after graduation.

KMaine wrote:To me it would be nice to save as much of the 75K as possible. If $ from Cornell is big and you want NYC Biglaw, you may want to bite at a large Cornell offer. I chose Cornell over higher ranked schools (not t6) because of scholarships. I have been very happy with my choice and happy to have less to pay off after graduation.

What year are you?

I suppose a Cornell JD is prestigious enough to look good on my resume if I ever choose to leave the law industry for another one. Something like NYU Law might not seem as prestigious to those outside of the legal community.

If I'm reading the LST spreadsheets correctly, Cornell places most of its recent grads into firms, primarily in NYC (with some going to New England, DC and the West Coast, as well). I'll probably start out in the private sector, too, but it'd be nice to know that I could move to PI if I want a chance of scenery.

It might be tough to answer this question as a 1L, but do you know whether or not many Cornell grads make the switch?

depends on what type of PI you want to do and where. A lot of alums work in government agencies and got there via big law. If you're thinking more non-profit or PD stuff, I've been told that going private, from any school, will be a crutch when trying to land a job.

If I decide that PI is for me, I'll probably look more at non-profit stuff. I've heard the same from other students about going from the private sector to PI, but it seems like most administrators or faculty members say that it's not really any easier than switching from PI --> the private sector.

1.Does everyone have their own plates/cups/pans or is there some that are shared? If so, do you use disposable ones?Also, is it allowed to use your own appliances such as blenders, microwaves, small fridges in your own room?2.Tell me about the alcohol policies. I know people were allowed to have alcohol in their rooms, what about outside of them? 3.Which cell phone carriers are notorious for sucking, which are good?4. I'm assuming doors are locked and we have our own keys to them?

I will have a dog with me. The 2L who gave my tour of Myron Taylor during ASW said she has a dog, and that the current #1 and #10 ranked students in her year (as I recall) have dogs as well.

edit: I keep confusing this thread and the class of 2015 thread for whatever reason... I'm a 0L. Sorry!

Do you have any idea where they live? I'm trying to see if living farther out with a yard will be a super inconvenience.

My tour guide lived in North Wood apartments (in the Lansing area) for her 1L year. I'm actually planning on living there, and I already paid a security deposit. She lives in the commons/downtown area now and says she prefers her current apartment to North Wood. No clue about the other two - she just mentioned them briefly.